Shoe and shoemaking



W. B. MAY

SHQE AND SHOEMAKING June `15 1926. 1,589,195

Fild Nov. l13, 1924 Ima/e wie?? We l?. Mag,

Patented .lune ll5, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."l p

SHOE AND SHOEMAKING.

Application led November 13, 1924. Serial No. 749,651.

illustrative embodiment thereof sh'own by. way of example in the accompanying draw' ings, wherein: y

Fig. 1 is a section through the welted upper;

Fig. 2 is a section through the insole, on :line'2-2 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 3 is a section showing the upper assembled with the insole;

. called fusing by workers with the ma-` terial, although by this word there is not to Fig. 4 is a similar section showing the shoe with an outsole applied; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view on a smaller scale showing the insole used in the manufacture of the shoe with parts broken away. v

My invention finds particular application to shoes having soles of rubber or the like and I have therefore illustrated as an example of the invention a shoe having a bottom of the material now commonly known as crape rubber. -4

Grape rubber has recently come into corisiderable use in shoe making and vit is a material having in itselfy advantageous properties for that purpose but its incorporation into a shoe has presented ditliculties so that the resulting shoes have not been entirely satisfactory. My invention overcomes these difficulties and in addition procures positive advantages in manufacture. For `convenience in the following description I shall refer specifically to crape rubber which may be considered an example of a gum or rubber-like material which is flexible but tough, wear-resisting, non-friable and non-tacking under the ordinary conditions of use, which properties may be briefly characterized by the single wrd stable, and further having the important pro' erty that if it is moistened with a suita le solvent, such, for eX- ample, as benzol, the partsmay be pressed together and will coalesce and be joined in what may be termed a homogenous auto genio weld. This 'joining is commonly be understood a melting by the application of heat. Grape rubber and its lequivalents are to be distinguished, on the one hand,

from ordinary raw rubber, which is not adaptable for use except after a vulcanizing operation and, on the other hand, from vul-. canized rubber, which cannot be fused in the manner described. 1

Referring to the drawings, I provide an upper 7 of leather, fabric or other suitable materia-l and attach thereto by the stitches 9 a welt including or preferably, as shown, consisting of a'strip of crape rubber 11 conveniently about three-quarters of an inch in width and about an eighth of an inch in thickness. I further provide an insole which preferably is of the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 5 and embodies a substantial body 13' of leather or the like to which is added a thickness 15 conveniently' consisting of athin layer of crape rubber attached thereto by suitable cement and having secured to its central portion. as by `be in merged with said layer 15, a substantial bolly 17 of crape rubber having its margins spaced inwardly from the margin of the body 13 of the insole. As this body of rubber among other things serves as a filler in the completed shoe, it may be conveniently identified by that'name in the present description. This filler may be similar in contour to the bpttom of the shoe, as shown in Fig. 5, and 1s of a thickness substantially,

equal to the thickness of the welt strip 11.

The insole shown in Fig. 2 may be placed upon a last in the usual manner andthe upper assembled therewith and the edges of the upper With the attached weltbiought up over the bottom of the last in the usual manner of lasting a shoe. It is not, however, necessary to last the shoe in the ordinary sense, that is, no lasting tacks need be applied. Tlie edge of the welt strip ll is turned inwardly into the plane of the filler 17 with the inner edge of the strip 'presented to the edge of the filler. The exposed portion of the laver 15, as shown in Fig. 2. the edge of the filler 17 and the edge of the welt strip are moistened with a suitable solvent such as benzol or conveniently with a thick solution of crape rubber in benzol and ner through the use' of a solvent-by taking advantage of the coalescing properties of the materialwith the filler 17 and Welt 11. The edge of the combined outer sole and Welt stripmay then be trimmed and the completed shoe removed from the last.

The method of manuf-acture described is. exceedingly simple, expeditious and economical and it will be noted that the customary bottoming room operations have been entirely eliminated. Furthermore, there is no need of any comprehensive treatment of the parts aftera'ssembly, such as vulcanization by heat as applied to ordinary raw rubber. No operation takes place which might injuriously affect the upper and the parts of the shoe bottom are assembled and joined together, as it were extemporaneously, by ex- CIS ceedingly simple operations andthe shoe at once completed.

Considering the completed shoe as a Whole, for example, 1n the form shown in Fig. 4, it will be noted that the parts of the Welt 11 are merged with and are in effect one With the filler 17 and are connected across the bottom of the shoe providing a construction of great strength. They are further united to the insole 13 throughout the entire area of the filler 17 that is, by an adhesive joint of large area and capable of great resistance. The insole 13 holds the shoe in shape and with the other parts thus intimately and securely united thereto provides a durable, Wear-resistinef shoe. In the preferred form of the invention the filler 17 filling the space defined by the inner edge of the Welt makes an even bottom for'the shoe free of any irregularities which might make the shoe uncomfortable to Wear or diminish its Wearing qualities.

. I have described in detail the particular shoe herein illustrated as an example of my invention and the steps utilized in making the same. It will be understood that this ,particularity of description has had for its purpose clarity and that the construction and process may be Widely varied Without departing from the spirit of the invention. What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent I shall express in the following claims.

Claims- 1. In shoe making the steps of assembling an upper having secured thereto a Welt strip of crape rubber with an insole having a facing layer of crape rubber and effecting connection of the upper to the shoe bottom by fusing the inner edge portions of the welt with said layer to provide a unitary bottom connected to the edges of the upper and supported by the insole. s

2. In shoe making the steps of assembling an upperhaving secured thereto a Welt strip of crape rubber with an insole which has secured thereto a layer of crape rubber of substantially the samethiekness as the Welt strip and having edges spaced from the edge of the insole, folding the edge of the Weltinto contact with the edges of sii homogenously uniting the edges.

3. A method of making a shoe comprising uniting With van insole a body of crape rubber of substantial thickness and considerable area, Welting an upper with a strip comprising crape rubber and securing the upper to the shoe bottom by homogenously unitin together the edges of said strip and sai body.

l. In shoe making the steps of Welting an upper With a strip of crape rubber, assembling the same with a sheet ofcrape rubber adapted to till the space defined by the inner edge of the Welt strip and, in cooperation therewith, to form a bottom layer in the completed shoe and, fusing together the said crape rubber parts, to form therefrom substantially a unit.

5. An insole comprising a substantial shapeeretaining body of leather having united therewith a layer of crape rubber of substantial thickness having'the edges spaced inwardly from the edges of the body.

6. A shoe comprising in combination With an upper having a Welt mechanically secured thereto comprising a strip of crape rubber, an insole and a body of crape rubber interfused with the welt and securing the edges thereof together beneath the insole.

7. A shoe comprising an insole, an upper having a Welt of crape rubber mechanically secured thereto, a body of crape rubber secured tothe insole, the upper being united to the shoe bottom through said Welt which has its edge fusedly united with said lbody whereby it is secured in position and to the insole by an adhesive joint of large area.

8. A shoe comprising an upper having a Welt mechanically secured thereto, an insole having a filler secured thereto interposed between the edges of the Welt, and an outsole; said Welt, filler and outsole being of crape rubber and homogenously interconnected.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

'WILLIE B. MAY.

dlayer and l 1 

